Building and building section



Jan. 31, 1933. E..GE|GER l 1,895,657

BUILDING AND BUILDING SECTION Original Filed Sept. 28. 1928 mvENToRlEr/svi (leger ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 31, 1933 UNITED STATES ERNSTGEIGER, F IRV'INGTON, NEW JERSEY BUILDING AND BUILDING SECTIONApplication :tiled September 26, 1928, Serial No. 308,503. RenewedSeptember28, 1931.

The present invention is concerned with individual and assembledbuilding units of the factory-fabricated slab type and particularly withan improvement in buildings and building units of the general characterdisclosed in my copending application Serial No. 122,666,61ed July th,1926.

It will be recalled that in such application there is shown a buildingunit consisting of m a channel iron frame on which are mounted outwardlyfacing ledge-forming angle iron frames. Inner and outer wall sections ofconcrete, plaster, brick or other suitable material are molded orotherwise mounted in the angle ironl frames, leaving an air spacebetween them through which connective horizontal and vertical tie rodsmay be passed when a plurality of the slab-like sections are assembledto form a wall, ceiling or roof.

Fabricated slabs of this character are eX- tremely heavy. They must betransported in substantially finished condition from the l factory tothe field where they are assembled and during the course of suchtransportation and assembly it is imperative that the inner and outerconcrete wfalls be prevented from cracking. on breaking. Even whencarefully handled with hoisting machinery there is an ever-presentdanger of a sudden shock which may dislodge or crack the wall material.

In accordance with the present invention A I have provided aconstruction in which the likelihood of breaking or knocking out thewall material at either side of the block is reduced to a minimum andthe walls are very firmly and securely held and highly resistant tobreakage or dislocation even under suddenA shocks and stressesincidental to their handl ling and transportation.

Another obj ect of the invention is to provide a slab constructionwhichpermits ready convenient attachment of ornamental moldjings to theinterior of the building, to con- 3 ceall the joints of the slabs andproduce a decorative panelled interior effect.

Another object is to provide a building in which the outside jointsbetween the slabs are effectively packed with a material which not onlyrenders them wind-proof but prevents the passage of moisture from onescction to another, and the entrance of rain or seepage into the hollowinterior of the slab.

It is worthy of note that a relatively simple change in the frameconstruction serves the dual function of firmly anchoring the Walls andproperly providing for the accommodation of the joint packing andmolding securlng means.

Other and more general objects of the invention are to provide abuilding unit of simple, practical construction which will be rugged'anddurable and efficient in use and well suited to the requirements ofeconomical manufacture and convenient assembly.

With the above noted and other objects in view, the invention consistsin certain novel features of construction and combinations andarrangements of parts which Will be more fully hereinafter described andpointed out in the claims.

The invention may be more fully understood from the followingdescription in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a bp en longitudinal sectional View through a pair ofsuperimposed fabricated building slabs constructed in accordance withthe invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view 80 through the joints of twoadjacent slabs.

Figure 3 is a detail view of the inner molding and its securing means,and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 but 85 illustrating a slightmodification.

In the drawing I have shown the slabs only in section. It may be statedthat `they may be of any height and Width in accordance with the demandsof the trade, their dimenf sions being limited only by practicalrequirements of transportation and assembly.

Each fabricated slab-like building section is of rectangular shape andincludes a rectangular inwardly facing channel iron frame 10. Lyingagainst and riveted or otherwise secured as at 11 to the inwardly turnedflangeslQ of the frame 10 are the flanges 13 of angle iron frames. Theother flange 14L of the angle frame projects outwardly and g ferred to.A novel feature, however, 1s the War lies in substantial parallelismwith the intermediate portion of the channel iron frame.

Wire mesh or other suitable reinforcement such as 15 may be attached tothe outer faces of the fianges 13 and this mesh is molded within theconcrete walls 16 and 17 which are cast within the mold-forming angleironv frames. These vinner and outer wallsare spaced apart a Adistanceapproximately equal to the distance of'the channel iron frame and may beintermediately reinforced and backed by cross-pieces 18, also of channelilion connecting opposite sides of the frame The heel or angle of eachangle iron extends beyond the adjacent channel iron so that when two ofthe blocks are placed in edge tions by tie rods such as the tie rods 20and 21, working through openings '22 in the channel frame and disposedin the central space between the inner and outer walls of the slab.

The sections as thus far described are disclosed in my copendingapplication above reuse of angle irons the flanges 14 of which are bentalong longitudinal lines to define a roughly V-shaped rib 23 projectingIinwardly-into the cast concrete. The effect of this rib entering alledges of the molded concrete walls is to firmly brace the concreteagainst displacement in an outward direction, iianges 13 of coursesubstantially sustaining it against movement in an inward direction. Bythis arrangement the outwardly extending ianges 14 form van actualinterlock with the edges of the walls.

The inwardly facing convexity of these flangesalso produces acorresponding outly facing concavity. The opposed concave faces oftwo-adj acent blocks define crevices designated at 24 at both theinterior and exterior of the block. These crevices are widest at theapex of the ribs 23, narrow inwardly as at 25 toward'the spacers 19 andnarrow outwardly at 26 toward theexposed faces of the block. Theexterior crevices preferably contain a packing material such as thetarred fiber 27. This packing may be in the nature of'a relatlvely heavytarred rope firmly compressed between two adjacent anges 14 as anincident of assembling the sections'ff. This packing. does not take anyof the thrust of 5 adjacent` slabs as explained above. Consequentlypossible rotting thereof cannot result in any sinkage of the buildingsections. The packing serves the three-fold purpose ,of excluding Wind,preventing seepage between adjacent sections and preventing the seepageof moisture or driving of rain into the interior of any slab.

Inasmuch as the packing serves this purpose it will of course be evidentthat the spacer member 19 need not extend the full length or the fullWidth of the adjacent channel iron frames and may be arranged atintervals along such frames to effect proper centering and spacing ofadjacent slabs. These spacers, as well as the packing material, arepresent between laterally adjacent blocks as well as betweensuperimposed blocks. In this latter instance the packing material iseffectively compressed by tightening the tie-rods 21.

There is shown in Figures 2 and 3 a wooden molding strip 28 which may beused to conceal the crevices defined at the interior of the building bythe non-abutting edges of adjacent slabs. This molding when secured inplace Will give the effect of panellin on the interior walls, the sizeand shape o the panels corresponding with the size and shape of theslabs.

OneA convenient method of securing the molding in place involves the useof screws 28a passed through the molding and carrying nuts 286 whichmount expansible yoke members 29. The yokes at their ends terminate inrearwardly turned cam arms 30 adapted to coact with the pointed end 31of the screw. The yoke is inherently spring held in the contractedposition of Figure 3 in which position it may be inserted into thecrevice 24. When the screw is tightened the y walls ofthe crevicepreventrotation of the nut and associatedyoke with the screw, with theresult that the nut is fed toward the mold- -ing and the yoke isexpanded by the engagement of cam surfaces 30-and 31 untilit engages thetapered surfaces 26 of adjacent defined by adjacent slabs are filledwith ce-y ment or mortar as at 32 in order to give the exterior of thebuilding .the desired finish. In this case l have shown the use of ahollow metal molding 33 retained in position by spring clips whichinclude hollow heads 34 housed within the'molding and spring arms 35 ofgenerally angular offset formation adapted to lie withinl thecrevices ofthe inner wall. The angularity of these arms is such that theirconverging extremities provide cams which automatically compress thearms as the clips are forced into position.

The opposite ends of the arms, however, outer face of the frame of anadjacent secdiverge from the head and lie snugly against the convergingsurfaces 26 of adjacent angle bar flanges 14 so that the metal moldingis tightly held. This form of molding may be conveniently pried off thewall, when desired.

In conclusion it may be stated that 'while I have shown features of thepresen-t invention embodied in a hollow factory fabricated slab of thecharacter disclosed in my prior application, certain of the inventivefeatures are applicable to various other types of Ifabricated buildingblocks, slabs and monoliths.

It will thus be seen that there'is herein described a device in whichseveral features of` this invention are embodied, and which device inits action attains the various objects of the invention and is wellsuited to meet the requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

l. In a pre-fabricated building section of the slab type, a. metalframe, wall material within the frame, said frame presenting inwardlydirected portions embedded in the edges of and interlocked with the wallmaterial presenting concave channels rat the eX- terior of the slabadapted to coact with the similar channel of an abutting slab to receiveand clamp packing material.

2. In a pre-fabricated building section of the slab type, a metal frame,wall material in the frame, said frame being bent upon longitudinallines to present an inwardly facing convexity interlocking with the wallmaterial and an outwardly facing concavity adapted to cooperate with thesimilarly concaved face of an adjacent slab to receive and clampwaterproof packing material.

3. In a pre-fabricated building section of the slab type, a metal frame,Wall forming material molded in the frame, said frame being bent uponlongitudinal lines to present an inwardly` facing convexity interlockingwith the wall forming material, an outwardly facing concavity adapted tocoact with the similarly shaped outer faces of the frames .of adjacentsections to provide a space for the reception of sealing material.

4. In a pre-fabricated building section of the slab type, a metal frame,wall material cast within the frame, said frame being bent uponlongitudinal lines to presentv an inwardly facing rib interlockingwiththe wall material and an outwardly facing groove adapted to coactwith the similarly shaped tion to provide a space for the reception ofsealing material.

5. In a pre-fabricated building section of the slab type, a metal frame,wall material confined within the frame, said frame being bent uponlongitudinal lines to present an inwardly facing rib interlocking withthe Wall material and an outwardly facing groove adapted to coact withthe similarly shaped outer face of the frame of an adjacent section toprovide a space for the reception of sealing material, said frame beingof general V-shape in cross-section to provide the rib and groove.

6. In a pre-fabricated building section of the slab type a channel ironframe, outwardly facing ledge-forming angle iron frames secured to theflanges of the channel iron frame, inner and outer walls confined withinthe angle iron frames, one flange of the angle iron frames being bentupon longitudinal lines to provide an inwardly facing conVeXity withwhich the walls interlock.

7. In a pre-fabricated building section of the slab type a channel ironframe, outwardly facing ledge-forming angle iron frames secured to theflanges of the channel iron frame, inner and outer walls retained withinthe channel iron frames, one flange of the channel iron frames beingbent upon longitudinal lines to provide an outwardly facing concavityadapted to coact with a similarly shaped concavity of an adjacent slabto provide a space for the reception of sealing material. Y

8. A building including a plurality of prefabricated slabs arranged inedge-to-edge superimposed relationship, each of the sections includingmetal frames and walls within the frames, said frames providingoutwardly facing concavities and sealing material arranged within theconcavities.

9. A building including a plurality of prefabricated slabs arranged inedge-to-edge superimposed relationship, each of the sections includingmetal frames and walls within the frames, said frames providingoutwardly facing concavities and sealing material arranged within theconcavities, said sealing material being compressed by the sections asan incident of assembling the building, and means independent of thesealing material for sustaining the thrust o f one section against itsfellows.

10. A building including a plurality of fabricated building sections ofthe slab type assembled in edge-to-edgerelationship to define a wall,each section including a rigid' central metal frame and inner and outerrigid frames connected thereto, inner and outer walls confined withinthe latter framesand spaced aparta distance equal approximately-to thewidth of the central frame, the inner and' outer frames providinginwardly facing convexities interlocking with the wall material andoutwardly facing concavities, means sustaining the thrust of the. vblockagainst each other and spacing the molding frames of adjacent blocksapart to 4provide exposed crevices in the inner and outer walls of thebuilding and means lling said crevices.

11. A building of the class described in claim 10 and wherein moldingslying against the inner faces of the wall and concealing the crevicesare retained in place by expansion securing devices entering thecrevices.

12. A building of the class described in claim 10 and wherein packingmaterial is housed within and seals the outer crevices and is compressedby the slabs between which it is conned as an incident of assembling thebuilding.

13. A building including a plurality of pre-fabricated sections, each ofthe sections including metal frames and walls Within the frames, saidframes cooperatively providing outwardly facing concavities and sealingmaterial arranged within the concavities of adjacent sections.

14. A building including a plurality o pre-fabricated sections, each ofthe sections including a metal frame and walls within the frame, saidframes providing outwardly facing concavities, and means coacting withsaid concavities to seal the joints between adjacent sections. j

15. A building section including a metal frame, inside and outside Wallsmolded to the frame, the outstanding anges of said metal frame beingdeformed to inwardly interlock with the walls and outwardly interlockwith means to seal the joints between adjacent sectional l 16. Abuilding including n plurality of i lpre-fabricated sections assembledin edge-toedge relationship to define walls, floors, and roof, eachsection including a metal frame and wall, floor, or ceiling formingmaterials molded therein, said frames supporting the superimposed loadswithout additional structural means, and means to seal the jointsbetween adjacent sections. v

Slgned at New York city in the county of v NewYork andvState of New Yorkthis 21st day of September, AQD.` 1928.

ERNST GEIGER.

